Battle Hymn for the Fallen
by Zea
Summary: Ten Years after the Fall of Voldemort, the unsung heroes are remembered.


Disclaimer: I own nothing Please don't sue... unless of course you want the -$40.00 that currently resides in my checking account.

Through out Diagon Alley witches and wizards of every kind strolled through the sunny streets.

Today was a day of rejoice, for it was the anniversary of the fall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Ten Years ago today, the Dark lord's reign ended in the middle of a muggle filled street. Most of whom were easily convinced that battle had been a series of special effects for an up and coming movie, those who were not so easy to convince were given a simple memory charm.

The muggle world soon forgot there was anything special about this day. But to the wizarding world, this day would be remembered before any other. Some wizarding parents even chose to give their children gifts on this day rather than Christmas.

But no matter whether or not the muggles remembered, or how wizards remembered; all of the wizarding world knew that on this day, they were once again free to release the fears they had carried with them since he had returned to power, Some Wizards were finally releasing the fears they had carried with them since the Dark Lord's first rise to power, having refused to let it go when the year-old Potter baby had defeated him the first time.

The Daily Prophet today was dedicated to this occasion, every article was in honor of the defeat of you-know-who. Every article was a proclamation of the Dark Lord's defeat but even after ten years there was still the residue of the fear Voldemort had inspired in each and every witch and wizard, even those who followed him. Every article referred to Voldemort by some entirely idiotic phrase, some used acronyms, HWSNBN or YKW, still refusing to use the dead man's name. Except one. One article stubbornly referred to 'Voldemort' over and over again. The author stubbornly refusing to give into fear any longer, a rebel among journalists.

If you walked through the outdoor seating of Florean's you would pass tables filled with people reading the Prophet, and if you looked closely, you would the majority of the reader's eye gazing over the one article that boldly proclaimed His name. Because even after Ten years people feared his name. Most of them knew that it was an irrational fear, but still, they never said His name.

**Battle Hymn For The Fallen **

Ten Years have past since the War against Voldemort officially ended. Four years have past since the any known Death Eater has been captured and sent to Azkaban Prison. Hogwarts reopened the September following the fall of Voldemort, when mothers and fathers once again felt safe sending their children on the journey aboard the Hogwarts express from Platform 9 ¾ to spend the better part of seven years at wizarding school. Throughout this time the wizarding world has begun to repair its self, walking through Diagon alley is once again a common activity amongst witches and wizards, and we feel free to let our children play outside without the fear that Death Eaters will come and take their innocent lives.

We share stories with each other to commemorate our friends and family that we lost in the war. Monuments have been built all across wizarding England to recognize our most celebrated war heroes- including four for Harry Potter, who hasn't been seen since he fought Voldemort for the final time ten years ago. A chocolate frog card was created in memory of Potter's heroics in final defeat of Voldemort. Two statues stand for Albus Dumbledore, one at the reconstructed Ministry of Magic, the other at Hogwarts, commemorating everything that this man gave and sacrificed for the wizarding world. Anther statue stands for the Order if the Phoenix, whose members fought in this war before the ministry recognized that Voldemort had returned.

For all the statues that have been erected in honor of those who we recognize as the most heroic individuals there are even more witches and wizards who fought bravely who we do not recognize, some of these individuals gave there lives in sacrifice to the war. There are many whose names we simply do not remember, those who even before the war we did not really see, to many of us they were simply part of background. In those early, peaceful days of attending Hogwarts, we didn't see them, and we wouldn't recognize them as our classmates walking down the streets of Diagon Alley yet they fought and died for what they believed in, and still their names are silent upon our lips.

And even when we never recognized them, when they saw the threat of Voldemort they stood b bravely, against his tyranny, and as they fought, we still did not see them. They died on the battlefield and we did not recognize their heroics the same as we did not recognize their faces as we took their lifeless bodies to hopefully be identified by someone who did know them.

I was a child of the Order of the Phoenix, and when I was old enough I became a full-fledged member, I always thought that the battles against Voldemort were executed primarily by the Order with some scattered help from Aurors. What I never knew until I went in to my first battle was that it was very common for witches and wizards who were neither aurors nor apart of the Order of the Phoenix to join the battle, and in my first Battle I was saved by one such individual. He wasn't more than a few years older than me but I had no recollection of him, I don't ever remember seeing him in Great Hall of Hogwarts or passing him in the halls between classes. I am ashamed of myself because I never saw him, and I wish I had known his name before he gave his life to save mine. These people are heroes and should be recognized as such, because each of them was willing to give up his or her own life in sacrifice for someone who had never noticed them.

There is still another group of heroes in this war. These individuals though, are not remembered for the contributions they made, though they saved as many lives as possible and aided in the defeat of Voldemort. Rather these are the individuals who when we think their names (though we often try not to) our thoughts turn vile and we struggle not to scream out in hate. These witches and wizards played crucial roles in the entirety of the war. Many of them worked under Professor Dumbledore, providing information to the Order of the Phoenix that continually kept the Order on top of Voldemort's plans. Some of them played the dangerous game of spying and many of them lost their lives for being caught. Still some have survived even to today, trying to move on with their own lives since the war. Others in the fashion of Harry Potter simply disappeared, with the possibility of being anywhere.

I myself had the honor of knowing one man who worked as Professor Dumbledore's spy not only in the second war against Voldemort but had originally gone to Dumbledore during the first war and acted as a spy then as well. He could have easily gone on his way after the defeat of Voldemort in 1981 but he chose to stay, to try to make amends for his previous actions. When the second war broke out he gave up what little freedom he had in his life in order to once again become a double agent, for a long time very few people were ever certain of this individual's true loyalties but from what I learned from my own interactions with Dumbledore and others that were aware of this spy, Dumbledore never once questioned this man's loyalty, and to this day I will never question why Dumbledore trusted this man, but I trusted Dumbledore and his judgment and that is enough for me.

Some were only traitors to Voldemort for a single moment, passing anything they knew on to Dumbledore when they would go to him, asking for forgiveness for the atrocities they had committed while loyal to Voldemort. Dumbledore once told me that he never understood why these people would find it so important to have his forgiveness, but I think everyone who has ever had a good long conversation with the former Headmaster would agree that being worthy of forgiveness from Albus Dumbledore is cause to believe that after we pass and our souls take their judgment we may be able to find forgiveness then as well.

Though there are not many that are held in this last group, I find it important to recognize them as heroes today, on this tenth anniversary of Voldemort's defeat. Though many of them consciously made the choice to join the ranks of Voldemort's Death Eaters and committed atrocious crimes while loyal to their Dark Lord they also showed incredible courage in trying to make some sort of amends for their actions and defying Voldemort in order to aid in his eventual defeat.

No monument stands for those who made mistakes but eventually saw the error in their ways. Even those who knew of these individual's for some reason simply fail to mention their heroics when remembering the war amongst friends. Maybe they find it easier to simply believe that these individual's were always dark and could never change their ways. But I have not a doubt in my mind that without the information provided by those who betrayed Voldemort we would not have won this war, and if we had some how managed to still defeat Voldemort I doubt that there would be anything left of wizarding England for any survivors to return home to.

So for their amazing efforts in the war I take this moment to thank all those who stood against Voldemort but I think most importantly I thank those who we never saw and those who chose to betray Voldemort. For their actions can be counted as the most courageous.

Ginevra Weasley

A/N: This is just something that popped into my head that I decided to actually type up. I thinking I may post a story later that continues on this general topic but we'll just have to wait and see what I can come up with


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